


I’d Hoped You Would

by BloodFrost



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, kylux - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren Fluff, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gay Male Character, Hux is Not Nice, I Ship It, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Kylux - Freeform, M/M, Marriage of Convenience, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Romantic Fluff, Star Wars - Freeform, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, Top Kylo Ren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 05:34:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14730926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodFrost/pseuds/BloodFrost
Summary: When Kylo Ren took over the mantle of Supreme Leader from Snoke, General Hux did not take the transition lightly. He felt, and still feels, that HE would make a far better leader than the unstable, temperamental force-user.When he runs out of options to take the crown from him, he has one idea left. A crazy one, to be sure, but it may be his only chance: he sets out to seduce and marry Kylo, thereby making himself co-ruler. And his seduction is successful; Kylo marries him, and takes him away to a secluded paradise for a romantic honeymoon.But Hux has bigger plans for them: he intends to murder Kylo, make it look like an accident, then return home by himself, the legal, the rightful, the ONLY, Supreme Leader. Yet it seems that no matter what he plans, or attempts, his new husband just refuses to go down.Either Hux isn’t as proficient an assassin as he’d thought ...... or Kylo knows more about what’s going on than Hux realizes.





	I’d Hoped You Would

As Hux sat in the passenger seat of the little ship, watching the stars whiz past them, he had time to reflect on the perfect culmination of events that had led him here.

Beside him, talking a mile a minute and continually reaching over to caress Hux’s hand, was Kylo Ren.

Master of the Knights of Ren, former prodigy of Jedi master Luke Skywalker, more current apprentice of Supreme Leader Snoke, direct descendant of the legendary Darth Vader.

Supreme Leader HIMSELF, now.

And, perhaps most interestingly ... Hux’s husband.

When Snoke died over a year ago following a rebel attack on Snoke’s ship, the Supremacy, Kylo had taken over his role as ruler of The First Order. A decision that nobody contested to his face, out of fear (Kylo was unnaturally strong with the Force, after all), but many internally questioned whether the tall, volatile man was really suited to lead.

And nobody questioned this more than the General, Armitage Hux.

Part of this was sour grapes on his part; he had been dreaming of the day HE would become Ruler for YEARS, and wasn’t able to handle it very well when Kylo, KYLO REN, of all people, leapt into that most coveted of roles.

Frustration grew to anger, when he discovered that nobody whatsoever wished to help him plan an uprising, or a coup, or take any kind of retaliatory actions towards the man they all dreaded.

Taking the reigns from Kylo was going to have to be approached in another way entirely, but Hux had an idea of how. After careful thinking about it, Hux came to the conclusion that despite Kylo’s strength, and his talents, he was flawed in a great number of ways. His instability made him irrational, and irrational people are often easy to exploit, under the right circumstances. 

And Hux, was smart. And he KNEW this. He knew that Kylo was in a perpetual state of emotional vulnerability, after the deaths of so many that had once been important to him. That compounded with the pressures he now faced as the Ruler of this empire, and his crushing loneliness, made him an easy target for Hux to prey upon. Having known him for years, Hux was able to use a variety of little tidbits and memories to get inside of Kylo’s head, to form a friendship that Kylo desperately needed at that point.

And after that, it didn’t take much at all to sway the balance from friendship, to love.

Or, at least what Kylo _believed_ to be love.

Hux surprised even himself, with how easily he had nabbed Ren. He didn’t even have to have sex with him, like he had dreaded he may need to do. Kylo fell for the easier, simpler things. Holding hands. Kissing, taking long walks. Having Hux listen attentively when he told him about his fears, his hopes, his dreams and nightmares.

And then, last fall, something else happened that had pushed the scales heavily in Hux’s favor: Kylo’s mother had died. The event, which occurred due to illness, left Kylo emotionally broken and depressed. It took him weeks to snap himself out of it, and return to some semblance of normalcy.

And while he was recovering, who was right there, with him?

Hux, of course. Hux, further planting the seeds in Kylo’s mind that he was the one person he could count on, depend on, and TRUST.

One day towards the end of his mourning, Kylo had made a comment about being an orphan, with no family left to speak of. Hux had said, “I could be your family,” and promptly proposed. And Kylo had, as expected, joyfully accepted.

Did Hux feel like the lowest form of humanity, doing all of this?

Spending so much time and effort, getting into Kylo’s head, playing off of his insecurities, only to fully intend to (quite literally) stab him in the back at the most opportune time, and take his throne for himself?

Of course he did. But ambition had had a tight hold on Hux’s soul, practically since infancy. And he didn’t see himself breaking away from that anytime soon.

So they had a wedding; a small, intimate ceremony, filled with food, and decorations, talk, laughter, and Kylo crying all over the place. Now they were on their honeymoon, on the lusciously green and fragrant planet of Naboo. Kylo had taken him to a tiny cottage in the far outskirts, one that he claimed he had inherited from Leia’s estate. Hux let Kylo carry him through the door and into the house, even though such actions really annoyed him. He figured, though, that dead men walking should at least go out doing the things that they loved.

Nighttime approached, and after they had gotten settled, Kylo coaxed Hux into the large bedroom, to begin their wedding night festivities.

He had to admit it: Kylo looked damned good. He stood there in his black silk pajamas; loose pants, a floor length robe. He wore no shirt, exposing his wide, muscular chest for Hux to feast his eyes upon. And feast, he did. He almost felt regretful about what he was about to do, thinking that it was surely a crime to let a body like THAT go to waste.

Still, though; once Hux was Supreme Leader he could have access to all the beautiful bodies he wanted, couldn’t he? 

So Hux pulled him into his arms and gently pushed back his hair, starting to kiss his neck. He trailed his fingers up and down Kylo’s sides, while at the same time slowly, slowly drawing his secret blade from his sleeve. A quick jab to the shoulder to throw him off, maybe, followed by a slash of the throat, then ...

“What ... what IS that?”, Kylo asked, having noticed the irregular movements of Hux’s other hand.

“Nothing!”, Hux exclaimed, while at the same time pushing the dagger back up his sleeve. “I mean, it’s our wedding night, maybe I was trying to give you a little affection, honey.”

Kylo smiled ... and he suddenly pushed Hux unto the bed, climbing over him so fast that Hux didn’t have time to react.

“I want more than ‘affection’, Armitage,” he whispered in his ear. “You’ve driven me crazy for _months_.” He removed Hux’s shirt and tossed it across the room ... meaning Hux’s dagger was now out of reach, dammit. He kissed and lightly bit along Hux’s neck for awhile, which actually felt kind of nice ... but Hux panicked when he heard the rustle of Kylo’s pants sliding down — and SOMETHING pressed against his thigh. Hux hadn’t thought it would get to this point; he had assumed he’d have killed Kylo by now.

“Er ... I ... uh ... “

“What’s the matter, Hux?”, he asked, somewhat teasingly. “You seem scared.”

Hux scowled. “I’m not scared!”, he tried to insist, while attempting to slide out from under Kylo. He kept his eyes solidly on Kylo’s face, because if he looked down at all, if he saw IT at all . . . “It’s just ...”

Kylo raised slightly off of him, looking down on him with a smirk. “I’d never ever force you to do anything you aren’t ready for, Hux. Just seems a bit odd, that for weeks now you’ve been talking about the wedding night, and now that it’s here ...”

Hux grabbed Kylo’s face and forcefully kissed him, pulling him down on top of him. There was no way he was going to let Kylo’s (correct) suspicions ruin his plan.

“I want you,” he murmured, still kissing him. “Let’s do this.”

 _I’m not ready for this!”_ , Hux’s frenzied mind shouted at him.

 _I don’t care; you’re going through with it regardless. It’ll be worth it in the end, okay?_ , he answered himself, firmly. He didn’t know it, but his inner voice was that of his father.

 **Kylo** didn’t know it, but there was literally NO length that Hux wouldn’t go to, to get what he wanted.

None whatsoever.

. . .

Hux could barely move, the next day.

Kylo had been so enthusiastic with him that Hux was mildly surprised he was still in one piece. His entire lower body felt almost paralyzed, and it was with great effort that he was even able to pull himself out of bed. He knew that at the moment, bending or stretching to put on clothes would be an impossibility, so he grabbed for his robe instead. He shook his head as he briefly looked at himself in the mirror; his pale skin was decorated quite thoroughly, with dark love-bite marks, and fingerprints along his hips and thighs.

He had yet to see Kylo; he assumed he went out for a run or something. After all, it’s not like HE would be sore today, was it? Hux made a painfully slow trip to the refresher, then shuffled his way to the kitchen. He was very surprised, to see Kylo there ahead of him.

“Morning, my darling husband!”, he said enthusiastically. He went to Hux and embraced him, and Hux flinched, startled. “I made you breakfast!”

He pulled out a chair for Hux, and Hux winced in embarrassment, noticing the thick cushion Kylo had put on the seat for him. That, and the smug way he grinned at him, as he patted it. Hux eased himself down on it as gently as he could, trying his best to keep the pained grimace from his face.

“So, first things first, I’ve got to say that last night was amazing,” Kylo said, grinning, as he began to put together a plate for Hux. “You were right about it being better, if we waited.”

Hux forced a smile, and nodded. “Magnificent.”

Kylo set the plate down in front of him, along with a fork and a glass of juice. Then, he snapped his fingers and quickly picked the cup back up.

“That’s right; you don’t like juice,” he said. “I’ll make you some caf, and I’ll drink the juice.”

He took a quick sip before going off into the kitchen, humming. Hux knew he had to act fast. He reached into his pocket and brought out a tiny red pill, looking at it carefully to make sure it was the right one. Moving as quickly as his body would allow, he crossed to the other side of the table and dropped it into the glass. It hissed and sputtered immediately, and Hux grabbed a spoon to stir it, hoping it would help it dissolve faster.

By the time Kylo came out with his coffee, the juice had calmed, and Hux was back in his seat, busily eating the food Kylo had made. Kylo set a cup of caf down at his elbow and kissed his forehead, before taking his own seat. 

Kylo began taking about the things he wanted them to do today; the places he wanted to visit in the scenic little town.

 _The only place **you’re** going to visit, sweetheart, is the graveyard._ , Hux couldn’t help but think, smiling to himself. _And you WON’T be coming back._ His smile faded, however, the longer Kylo took to pick up his drink. It was almost as if Kylo was toying with him; he’d pick up the glass, bring it to his lips, then suddenly set it down again and begin talking about something else. Hux could barely get his food down, he was so anxious.

Finally, it looked like Kylo would drink it. He tilted his head, put the glass to his lips ...

... and promptly let out the loudest sneeze Hux had ever heard before. Loud enough and impactful enough, apparently, to make his glass go flying from his hand and thudding to the floor.

Hux watched, in silent fury, as the liquid spilled all over the carpet. When he looked at Kylo, he wasn’t really surprised, to see that the man was grinning at him.

“Damn,” he said, going to retrieve a cloth from the kitchen. As he got on the floor to wipe it up, he said,

“This is one thing you’re going to have to get used to, being married to me: I’m rather clumsy sometimes.”

He finished and took the soaked cloth back into the kitchen, dropping it in the sink. Hux didn’t say anything; what COULD he say?

_You son of a bitch; that pill cost me over a thousand credits._

“I’ll clean up; you go and start getting ready for our day,” he told Hux, beginning to stack the dishes together on the table. As Hux stood, Kylo walked over to him, smiled, and playfully(?) smacked him full on the behind. Hux nearly fell over, and it was all he could do to keep from howling.

“That’s something else you should get used to,” Kylo said, smirking at him. “I’m very hands-on.”

. . .

The Isle of Paradise, as it was called, was home to many exotic, off-worlder animals and other life forms, on display for paying customers. There were open exhibits outside in the field, where guests could interact with the more tamed creatures, and a building of inside rooms, each set to a different planet’s theme.

When Kylo had suggested going here, Hux wasn’t really keen on the idea. He had never had the best of luck with animals, and spending any amount of time outdoors wasn’t really his forte. Yet in the end, he agreed to go. In his mind he thought that maybe another ‘opportunity’ to dispose of Kylo would present itself. He certainly wasn’t having any luck with it, back at the cottage. 

Hux had a variety of poisons that he had laced Kylo’s food and drinks with over the last few days, but nothing would take effect on him. Either the man had built up a secret immunity to toxins, or the items in question weren’t as strong as they claimed to be. 

Whatever the case, the fact of the matter was that he was still alive. As Kylo got ready, Hux read through the little brochure that he had left on the bed, regarding the place. One of the pictures in the far back was of a variety of flowers and ... wait, was it possible? 

Mai-roses.

This was one of the things Hux had learned about him, during their courtship: Kylo was horribly allergic to mai-roses. Hux had brought him a bouquet once, and had had to rush him to med bay almost immediately, and Kylo had turned blue by the time they got there. They made Kylo’s throat close up, and put a stranglehold on his breathing. 

Kylo never planned ahead for things like that, though, and likely hadn’t taken the time to read over all of the plant life that would be available in exhibits. 

Perfect.

Hux made a mental note to himself which area they were in; and then Kylo came out of the refresher, and they left.

In spite of his misgivings at being outdoors, Hux had to admit that the weather was truly beautiful. Soft, balmy breezes, blue skies, and a pleasantly warm sun. Kylo held his hand and pulled him from exhibit to exhibit, and Hux couldn’t help but smile, at his charming, childlike excitement.

Eventually, having perused all the outside exhibits, they began touring the big building with the multilevel greenhouse rooms. It being so nice out, there weren’t that many people inside, leaving Kylo and Hux almost entirely alone. When they came to the room in question, Hux said, casually,

“I’ll be right back; I have to use the refresher. You go on ahead, I’ll join you in a few minutes.”

Kylo nodded and let go of his hand, striding into the room. Hux waited until he was further in, and he was distracted, before he quickly shut the door ... and locked it. Once Kylo really started to breathe in, the flowers should do their trick, and, being unable to escape, well ...

Hux whistled as he walked along the hall, sticking his head into various exhibits, taking his sweet time. When he felt enough time had passed, he headed back to Kylo, and opened the door. He started towards the back of the room, practicing the shocked face he would need to employ once he came across Kylo’s dead body ...

... and nearly fainted, when he rounded the corner and saw Kylo, ALIVE, standing there and holding a bushel of the roses in his arms.

Hux was so shocked that he couldn’t even open his mouth to speak.

“Oh, there you are, honey,” Kylo said to him when he saw him. “I thought maybe you got lost; I tried to come look for you but I think the door accidentally got locked.”

“W-what, uh, how ... aren’t you allergic to those?!”

Kylo smiled, and pulled a tiny glass bottle from his pocket. “I meant to tell you; before we came to this Naboo, I had the First Order engineers make this for me. It’s a serum that blocks the allergen affects of the flowers, so now I can be around them. Which is lovely, because these smell SO good.”

He held one out to Hux, smiling devilishly at him. Hux took it with numb fingers; he was so disappointed that, if he squeezed the stem any harder, he would have drawn blood.

“Now then,” Kylo said, still with that infuriating grin, “What should we do next?”

. . .

Another night, and more hours for Hux to lay awake and plot Kylo’s demise. Kylo was asleep beside him, his body giving off more heat than the covers Hux pulled over himself.

The two had spent the last hour making love, which Kylo always seemed to sleep pretty heavily after. While it didn’t hurt Hux nearly as much as it had that first time, he still carried a bit of soreness with him, and he tried to lay as still as he could, while he waited for it to wear off.

So he simply turned his head, laid there and stared at Kylo, for a long time.

_How hard would it be to smother him with my pillow?_

He played out the scene in his head: he’d have to move quickly, because Kylo was stronger than him, and Hux’s only chance at success would be the element of surprise. He’d have to firmly be on top of him, and the pillow would have to be pressed down HARD, in order for it to work. 

But this approach would be riskier than the others. It was very hard to make an intentional smothering look like an accident, for one. Also, if he failed, and Kylo was able free himself, he’d be 100 percent on to Hux. And, likely, he’d kill him.

Hux cursed to himself, wishing he had had the foresight to bring handcuffs with him. It would have made it much easier to render Kylo helpless, if he couldn’t move his arms to fight Hux off. Also, another bonus: the use of handcuffs, and Hux’s positioning on him, could be written off to outsiders as a sex game, that went wrong.

Still, at this point, what other options did Hux have? Their honeymoon ended in a few days, and pulling off an ‘accident’ at home would be far more difficult.

Moving slowly, Hux removed his pillow from behind his head and held it in his arms. He was mentally preparing himself to jump up on Kylo ...

... when, in his sleep, Kylo turned over and threw both arms around the thin redhead, holding him down.

 _Cuddling_ him, actually.

Hux tried to free himself, but, good Lord, Kylo was heavy. Hux laid there in anger and frustration, and was seconds away from biting his husband’s arm to make him move, when, Kylo murmured out in a dream-like voice,

“Love my Hux so much.”

Shock flooded him, melting away the remnants of his anger. At the same time, Kylo unconsciously wrapped his arms tighter around Hux, burying his face against his neck. Goosebumps broke out over Hux’s body at the feeling of Kylo’s breath ticking him, and the sensation was almost more than he could handle.

So, instead of trying to carry out his plan, Hux simply stayed where he was, and sank deeply into the comfort of his husband’s embrace. 

_I’ll come up with something else in the morning,_ , he told himself, before drifting off to sleep.

. . .

Hux had paid the waiter an obscene amount of credits, to put the little snake in Kylo’s dinner.

Hux had a contact on Naboo, a man who raised poisonous insects and reptiles for high-paying breeders. The man had crossbred two highly venomous snakes to create a very toxic, slithering creature. 

“One bite is enough to put you into a coma,” he told Hux, as he handed him the tiny glass container. “Two bites, well, you’d better start planning your funeral.”

It was tiny, about the length of one of Hux’s fingers. As per their agreement, the man had given it a concoction to make it sleep.

“It wakes up when exposed to nefrisis oil.”

“What the hell is nefrisis oil?”

“Fairly common ingredient found in most commercial salad dressings. Look, put it in the lettuce, hand your target the dressing. As soon as they pour it on, bam, this little beauty wakes up, attacks, and it’s all over. Now where’s my payment?”

So Hux paid him, and then he went to pay a visit to the restaurant he and Kylo were visiting later that night. He found a waiter who looked hard up for money, and paid him to put the snake in the salad, and give it to Hux’s ‘date’. If the kid had any scruples about abetting this crime, he didn’t let on. He simply stuffed the credits in his pocket, took the container, and promised that everything would be taken care of.

By the time Kylo and Hux arrived to the restaurant, Hux was sweating bullets, he was so nervous. What if something went wrong? What if the kid backed out on him, or put the snake on the wrong plate,”? What if ...

When the kid brought out two full plates of salad to their table, Hux felt his heart speed up. It was there, hidden carefully among the leaves and vegetables, but visible to Hux who knew what to look for. Kylo reached for the salad dressing ... then stopped, picking up his wine glass instead.

“A toast, before we eat?”

Hux picked up his glass, trying to keep an air of calm and not show how anxious he was.

“To my husband, my sweetheart, my best friend. This past year with you has been heavenly; this past week, everything I could have dreamt. Here’s hoping we have many more happy years with each other. To us!”

“To us,” Hux said weakly, clicking his glass together with Kylo’s. His hand was shaking so hard that he could barely take a drink of his wine, and it shook harder, as Kylo finally lifted up the salad dressing and poured it over his plate.

Hux didn’t know what came over him ... all he knew was that he couldn’t let the creature bite Kylo.

Moving quickly, Hux leapt from his seat and knocked the fork from Kylo’s hand, then picked up the plate and flipped it into the wall. Dressing and bits of salad trickled sluggishly down the wall as everybody, Kylo included, stared incredulously Hux.

“Hux ... what ...”

Hux sat back down calmly, and pointed to the mess he had made.

“I don’t think that’s what you ordered, dear.”

At that moment, the snake came hissing from the food, and several waiters surrounded it, to capture it. Hux’s own waiter was, smartly, nowhere to be seen.

“That ... oh, Maker, that could have killed me!”, Kylo exclaimed, seemingly still in a state of shock. “You saved me!”

Hux shrugged and took a long sip of his wine. “It’s not a big deal. Let’s get a waiter over here so you can order something else, huh?”

But Kylo refused to let it go. He moved his chair so that he was sitting directly next to Hux, and he took hold of his free hand, laying his head on his shoulder.

“You’re the best husband in all the universe, Hux,” he told him, tilting his head to kiss Hux’s cheek. “And I love you so much.”

Hux’s heart clenched painfully in his chest, and it was all he could do, to give Kylo a reassuring hug.

Kylo really DID trust him.  
And he really ... loved, him.

 _That doesn’t matter,_ he thought to himself angrily. _Love is useless and so, apparently, are you. You have had AMPLE opportunity to kill him by now; why haven’t you? What the hell are you waiting on?!_

The waiter was back now, HUX’S waiter, looking at Hux with a mix of fear and confusion. He apologized profusely for the snake, cleverly making up a story about how frequently the native wildlife got into the kitchen. Hux just shrugged; he couldn’t look him in the eye. Kylo ordered something else ...

... but he was still holding Hux’s hand.

. . .

“Can I ask you something?”, Hux said after a long while, breaking their companionable silence.

It was later that night, and the two had just finished having sex. Something about it was different this time, though. Vastly so. Hux, rather than just laying back and letting Kylo do what he wanted, made himself an active participant. He kissed back, he touched, he bit, he stroked; he did everything he possibly could, to make Kylo feel good.

Why?  
He honestly had no idea.

All he knew was that he had never wanted Kylo more than he did that night. And Kylo responded to Hux’s intensity, making for an explosive evening.

Kylo shifted himself so that he was facing Hux. 

“Anything.”

“Okay. I’m not trying to be offensive, and if you do take offense to this, I’m sorry. But, well, you trained as a Jedi under your uncle, right?”

“That’s right.”

“And Jedi ... they have a, er, a rule about celibacy, don’t they?”

Kylo grinned, seeing the direction that Hux’s question was going.

“A very strict one, yes.”

“And Snoke was no Jedi, but I imagine he had some kind of rules about love and sex?”

“‘A distraction that needs to be pushed out, if you’re to achieve your true potential.’”, Kylo quoted his former master, doing a scarily accurate imitation of Snoke’s voice.

“That’s what I thought. So, er, my question is, how ...”

“You want to know _how_ I know what I’m doing. Right?”

Hux nodded, feeling his face flush a little in embarrassment. It burned darker as he added in a soft voice,

“Tonight was hands-down the best experience I’ve had in bed, in my entire life. And it’s difficult for me to try and match the experience with the person responsible for it.”

Kylo remained quiet for a long time. When he spoke again, his voice was so low, almost whispering, that Hux could just barely hear him.

“If I told you, you’d just laugh.”

Hux shook his head vigorously. “I won’t. I swear I won’t.”

Another small spell of silence.

“When I was a kid,” Kylo began, after taking a deep breath, “My parents would ‘take breaks’ from each other. Breaks meaning my mother would kick Han out of the house until she felt ready to deal with him again. She always said, though, that a boy needs his father, so she’d make him take me with him sometimes on his hauls. I spent a LOT of time on the Millennium Falcon between ages 8 to 16; keep in mind this was before they sent me to Luke. Anyway one day, I think I’m maybe 14, I’m sitting on the ship waiting for Han to come back from negotiating a deal. I’m looking around and I find a box of holofilms, but none of them have labels on them. So I take one and stick it in my jacket, to watch it later when Han is in bed. I thought it was a fighting holo, because Han loved violent stuff like that, but mom would have a fit if she found out he’d let me watch, too. So after he goes to bed, I turn it on, and it’s a, um, a very graphic, ‘adult’ holo.”

“Maker,” Hux said, shaking his head. “That must have been strange for you.”

Kylo nodded. “‘Strange’ doesn’t begin to cover it. Especially considering that Han had yet to give me ‘the talk’ at this point. The things in the holo were fascinating to young me; there were men with women, men with men, women with women, aliens, droids ... and me, being the thinker that I am, though that this was normal sexual behavior. So I watched almost like I’d watch an educational holo at school; to learn what to do. I finished that one and watched a different one practically every night. I never told Han, and as far as I know, he never figured out what I was doing. But yeah, long story short, that’s where I learned things.”

Now he looked fearfully at Hux, still expecting him to start laughing. Instead, what came out was,

“I had a kind of similar experience. I’ll tell you about it, if you promise not to laugh, too.”

“Promise,” Kylo said eagerly, leaning more towards him.

“Well, my own father was a very rigid, strict man. He didn’t give me ‘the talk’, as you put it, until I was almost 16 years old. But as was the case with everything concerning my father, he expected me to put what he’d taught me into immediate application. He began to question constantly why I didn’t have a girlfriend, why I never brought girls home like the other boys my age were doing. Eventually, he decided to take the bantha by the horns, and ‘fix’ the ‘problem’ himself. One day I get home from Academy, and find a note saying that he would be gone until late, and had left me a surprise in my room. So I go to my room, and there’s a half-naked woman in my bed.”

“Seriously?”

Hux nodded, his face having turned pink again at the thought of this old memory.

“I wasn’t sure what to do, so I sat down on the edge of the bed and began to talk to her. I honestly can’t remember what all I SAID; I just remember talking for hours. At some point I got up and made us both food. She was really rather sweet; I can’t imagine what had happened in her life, for her to be doing what she was doing. She left just as my father was coming back; I kissed her cheek goodbye and Brendol saw this. He asked if I had had a good time, and I said yes, because I HAD. Not in the way he’d imagined I would, but yeah.”

Hux paused after his story, frowning. He had never told that to anybody before. And he got the distinct impression that Kylo had kept his tale to himself, as well. To share something so intimate with each other ... and the way Hux was leaning comfortably against Kylo, touching his arm, feeling ... 

He quickly moved away and said, in a low voice, 

“I’m a little tired, now; I’m going to go to sleep, okay?”

He turned over on his side, facing away from Kylo. Kylo reached out and gently stroked his hair. 

“Okay. Goodnight, baby.”

“Goodnight.”

Hux kept his eyes opened and waited until he heard the familiar sounds to indicate that Kylo had fallen asleep. He turned himself over so that he was facing him. He wanted to lean over and kiss his sweet face, he wanted to trace the plump lips and stroke the silky black hair.

 _Stop it, Armitage!_ , he scolded himself in his head. _You’re losing focus of the goal, here._

He closed his eyes and tried to conjure up the usual pictures that helped him fall asleep. Hux, sitting on his newly crafted throne at the First Order. Hux, wearing dark blue robes and holding a jeweled scepter. 

But the harder he tried, the foggier those pictures got. Different images flooded his mind, instead:

Him and Ren, sitting in the courtyard under the stars, talking until the sun came up.

Him and Ren, sitting in Ren’s chambers while Hux read to him, to help him sleep.

Him and Ren, period.

It was on these conflicting images that he finally fell asleep, his heart full of confusion.

. . .

It was a bit colder, than he had expected

Kylo had said that when he was a child, and came here on retreats with his parents, Han Solo had often taken him climbing the impressive Mt. Nakeese, the tallest natural structure on Naboo.

When Kylo managed to get Hux to the base of the mountain, and start pulling him up the narrow footpath, Hux had had his misgivings. Despite being slender, he wasn’t in the best of shape, physically. He didn’t really have the stamina or the fortitude for outdoor activities. Kylo, on the other hand, had been granted years of intensive physical training, both with Luke Skywalker, and Snoke. He was in his element out here, and Hux sensed that if he wasn’t helping the redhead up the path, he could likely have jogged up and down the entire thing several times, without even breaking a sweat.

But, to his credit, Kylo was endlessly patient with Hux; holding his hand, guiding him, stopping to rest as often as Hux wanted. At one point, when they came to a steep bend that Hux worried he just couldn’t make, Kylo had actually lowered himself to the ground and hoisted Hux onto his back, carrying him for half an hour.

By the time they reached the top, the sun was about two hours away from setting. Everything looked so wondrous and gorgeous that it took Hux’s breath away.

“This is really beautiful,” he says quietly, sitting on a large flat-sided rock. Kylo sat down next to him, nodding. 

“It is. An excellent place to die, huh?”

Hux turned his head quickly, when Kylo said that.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, this is better than the poison, better than suffocating in flowers. DEFINITELY better than smothering me with a pillow.”

Hux’s heart pounded, and he didn’t know what to say. 

Kylo KNEW.

He knew ... but he didn’t even seem angry about it.

“You know, I didn’t have the best role-model of what a marriage should be like,” Kylo continued softly. “But one thing that Han and Leia DID show me was the importance of being honest with each other. I would really appreciate it if you had been honest, with ME.”

“If you knew all this time ... why didn’t you stop me? Why would you let us have a wedding? Why haven’t you killed me?”

“There’s no easy answer to that, Hux. I guess I was hoping that, in time, you’d come to care about me the way I care about you. That you’d decide you wanted ME, more than you wanted sitting on the throne.”

“Kylo ...”

“So here’s the reality: I really do love you, Hux. I wouldn’t have married you if I didn’t. And I think, if we tried, we could have an excellent marriage. I also think, if we tried, we could rule the First Order, successfully, TOGETHER.”

To Hux’s surprise, Kylo unclipped his lightsaber and handed it off into Hux’s hands.

“But if you still feel like either thing isn’t possible, or worth your time, go ahead and kill me. I’ll turn around and you can stab me. I promise I won’t run, and I won’t fight back. All I ask is you aim correctly so that I don’t suffer.”

Hux looked at him, then the saber, and back to him again.

“Are you being serious?”, he asked, very softly.

Kylo nodded. He stepped forward and took Hux’s face between his hands, kissing him. “I’d rather be dead than live in a reality where the person I love, doesn’t love me back. But no matter what you choose, I’ll always love _you_ , Armitage.”

And then he turned around.

Hux had no idea how long he stood there, clutching the saber, staring at Kylo’s back. This would be easier than ANYTHING he had tried this week. He would stab Kylo, and roll his body off of the little plateau. The perfect story was already writing itself in his mind: they had been climbing this gorgeous mountain, exploring. Hux hadn’t wanted to go up but Kylo insisted so, like a good husband, Hux followed him. Kylo, being cocky and careless like always, had left the marked path to scale some rocks. He had been moving too fast, and had grabbed onto an unstable piece of rock. The rock broke off and he lost his grip, plummeting to his death as the horrified Hux looked on. By the time Hux got down the mountain to seek help, the hungry animals below had already done their grisly work, disposing of the body.

And after the smoke had cleared, Hux would return home, and become the new, the legal, the ONLY, Supreme Leader.

The perfect plan.

And what was the alternative, anyway?

They went home together, worked out their differences? They argued endlessly, fought over everything, as they had always done?

Hux curled up next to Kylo every night, and waking up to his face every morning?

Was THAT better than ultimate power and control, over everything?

Kylo waited, still turned around, eyes squeezed shut. He felt an indescribable sense of peace, of acceptance. Whatever happened, happened. He waited for the piercing red light to shoot through his chest. Poetic, in a way; he had killed the man that loved him the most, his father, by stabbing him in a similar fashion; and now the man Kylo loved the most, Hux, was going to do the same to him.

Poetic, yes, and ...

At first Kylo, so focused on that expected point of light, couldn’t immediately identify the pressure surrounding his chest for what it was: arms.

Hux’s arms were around him, and his face was pressed into Kylo’s back.

“Your decision making skills as Supreme Leader are **abominable** , Ren. You should never, ever hand off a weapon into the clutches of your worst enemy. Clearly, you need me.”

Kylo smiled and put his hands over the top of Hux’s, squeezing. 

“YOU should never enter into a relationship with somebody as devastatingly handsome as myself, and NOT expect to fall in love. Clearly you, need ME, as well.”

Hux sighed and let go of him. “I suppose I can’t argue that,” he said as Kylo turned to face him. He handed his saber back to him, then held out his hand.

“All of this ... this emotional nonsense has me exhausted. Let’s go back to the house, huh?”

Kylo took his hand, and nodded. “It’s got me tired, too. I think this warrants extending our honeymoon by a few more days, to relax. Don’t you?”

Hux’s eyes lit up in excitement. “Really?! That’d be wonderful! But ... can we do that?”

“WE, are the Supreme Leaders, Hux. So WE can do whatever we want.”

Hux smiled, leaned up and kissed him.

“You make an excellent point,” he said, as the two started back down the path.


End file.
